The Dark Lord Potter
by boots1990
Summary: One of harry's first deeds was the slaying of a sixty foot basilisk. what happens when a young wizard bonds with a "dark" creature like that? voldemort is in for one hell of a fight. beta reader needed.
1. Chapter 1

The Dark Lord Potter

chapter 1 the basilisk's devotion

harry stood rooted to the spot as the mouth of the statue of salazar slytherin opened, revealing the head of a massive serpent. "kill him!" screamed the shade of tom riddle. harry hid behind a column, trying his best to avoid the deadly gaze of the basilisk. with a low hiss, the gargantuan serpent started to sniff him out. suddenly, harry had an idea.

$you know you dont have to follow his orders, right? hes not a real person.$ said harry.

$another who listens and speaks?$ hissed the serpent. $it has been a long time.$

$did he not speak?$

$no. the shade spoke through the girl. the girl is not of the blood. but you are. you are descended from my master, salazar. i can smell it. it is a shame. i would rather serve you, but magic binds me.$ harry thought for a minute before inspiration struck.

$what if you were bound as my familiar? what is your name?$ $name? my name. master salazar named me skiatou thanatou.$

$the shadow of death? it fits i guess. ill call you skitha for short.$ desperately, harry pushed his magic out towards the giant snake. holding the aura out, harry began an incantation as ancient and instinctive as magic itself. $i, harry james potter, pledge my magic and protection to the basilisk skiatou thanatou. as in ancient times, so it is now. so mote it be.$ as harry finished the incantation, the basilisk found him. as harry's gaze met that of the king serpent, twin beams of golden light joined both pairs of eyes. after an eternal moment, a brief eternity, the golden light dissippated. suddenly, harry felt a new presence in his mind. reaching out, as if to touch this presence, he felt an ancient power, a reserve of magical strength that dwarfed his own. a font of knowledge that had been lost for millennia.

'skitha? is that you?'

'yes master.'

'you're terrible and deadly, but beautiful. how am i not dead?' harry felt the pleased embarrassment from the serpent. suddenly he realized something. 'you're a female basilisk.'

'yes master. i am. but to answer your question, the bond has intertwined our lifeforces together. no basilisk can kill you with the gaze.'

'ah. that's... that's pretty cool. any ideas how to destroy this riddle guy?'

harry felt a smile cross his mind. 'allow me master.' the basilisk turned and slithered over to ginny. nosing the diary out of her hand, the massive jaws opened, and precisely, almost gently, one lone fang pierced the covers of the book. a terrible scream filled the room as the shade of tom riddle faded away. as the shade faded, ginny began to stir.

"ginny! close your eyes! dont open them!" $skitha, i would appreciate it if you didnt kill my friend's little sister.$ the basilisk closed her eyes and settled her massive head on the stone floor. "okay ginny, its safe. you can open your eyes but don't panic. i have it under control."

"h- harry?" she opened her eyes and saw harry standing next to a giant serpent, gently stroking the massive jaws and head. "harry, is that a basilisk?"

"yup. her name is skitha. she's my new familiar. isn't she gorgeous?"

$flattery will get you everywhere master$

"you bonded a basilisk? how? why aren't you dead? h..."

"its a long story, suffice it to say, the diary is destroyed, tom is dead, and you are safe. im about to ask skitha if she can get us out of here." 'how about it hon?'

'i know of a path.'

'very well, lead on macduff.'"cmon ginny, climb on, dont look at her eyes." climbing onto the massive serpent, the two teens rode her to the exit of the chamber. "hold on, theres something i have to do." $seal the chamber!$ as the young wizard spoke, the door to the chamber of secrets closed and with a resounding boom, magically sealed. riding the basilisk further, the teens reached the cave in. jumping off, harry went to talk to ron. "ron!"

"harry! youre alive!"

"erm, yeah, i am. hey listen, im going to clear the cave in, but i need you and the doofus to close your eyes and keep them closed."

"ok, why?"

"its complicated. just do it!"

"ok mate. eyes are closed." at harry's signal, skitha started spitting her acidic venom on the rocks, slowly dissolving them. after a short time, the rocks were gone, and skitha closed her eyes.

"ron, open your eyes, i need you to climb on to the basilisk."

"harry mate, did you just say basilisk?"

"yeah, that's the complicated part. just climb on, we'll be out of here in a second." climbing on, the massive serpent slid them up the pipes to the girls lav. "alright, everybody off." 'skitha, is there a smaller form you can take? a sixty foot basilisk is sort of conspicuous. im not ready to let many people know about you yet.'

'yes master.' shrinking in on herself, the giant basilisk was replaced by a six inch gartersnake. harry held his hand down on the floor and the small serpent slithered up his palm and curled up like a bracelet on his wrist.


	2. Chapter 2

A distruaght Harry sat next to Hermione in the medical wing. ever since the events in the chamber, he sat here hoping she would wake up. waiting for the restoration potions to finish brewing. 'master, i am sorry. if i could have stopped...'

'no skitha, this isn't your fault. this is because of riddle. i know you wouldn't have done this otherwise.'

'thank you master. even master salazar would not have sent me after her.'

'really? everyone thinks slytherin hated the muggleborn.'

'a common misconception master. salazar believed that only magicals should be taught magic. everyone else also wanted to teach muggles.'

'really? what kind of sense does that make? magic is dangerous enough, how can you expect someone who can't use magic to be able to survive in the magical world?'

'that was my master salazar's main argument. no one listened until years after he left. so many muggles were killed during magical training. and yet they said he was a "dark" wizard. of course being the creator of a basilisk probably didn't help. which is probably why i should stay a secret.'

'i can understand that. can you imagine people's reactions if they thought i was a dark wizard?' harry chuckled to himself.

Madame Poppy Pomfrey sat in her office, watching the patients in her care. the Potter boy was sitting beside one of the bunks. she smiled to herself. 'ah, young love.' the potter boy had not left that spot in days. every day, he sat there waiting, hoping she would wake up. Poppy had a bad feeling that this would not be the last time this boy or one of his friends found their way into her care. with a sigh, she got back to work preparing for the restoration draught.

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore sat in his office brooding. The tattered remains of Riddle's diary sat on his desk. Dumbledore had spent hours casting diagnostic spells on it, but had found nothing. even more frustrating, the boy had not died. obviously, the shade he had told him about was none other than a soul fragment of lord voldemort. 'neither can live while the other survives. damn that boy! why wont he die? it should be me who kills voldemort! me who reaps the glory! after i destroy voldemort, i will be undisputed leader of the world. then the pureblooded wizards will take their proper place as rulers and protectors of the world. alas, i cannot just kill him. his own fame protects him. i had hoped that those muggles i left him with would have broken him, but if anything he's even more resilient than i would have thought. i have to come up with a new plan.'

Hermione woke slowly, her normally fast and agile mind struggling to shake off the fuzz that was covering everything. slowly, her eyes open, squinting against the light. the first thing she saw as her eyes focused sent a flutter to her heart and a tingling elsewhere. as she slowly turned her head, the muscles and joints seeming to grate like old rusty metal, she saw even more clearly the black untidy hair of the most interesting and unsettling boy she had ever met. her eyes ran over his thin face, working down his scrawny almost gaunt body. with a start, she saw the sleeping garter snake curled up around his wrist. 'where did he get that? a new familiar? maybe so. he is a parsletongue... whatever.' looking up, she started as her gaze was caught by the deep emerald pools that were his eyes. "H-Harry?"

"Hermione! You're awake!"

"Harry, the monster..."

"Was a basilisk, yeah I know." he said with a smirk.

"Did... Did you kill it?"

Harry chuckled a little darkly. "I took care of it."

With a start, Hermione made one of her leaps of insight. "The snake! Harry that thing is dangerous!"

"Smart girl, Hermione. I wondered if you would put two and two together. Its not what you think though. Skitha was forced into it, just like Ginny was. Ordinarily she wouldn't hurt a fly. she's bonded to me as a familiar anyway. and in her current form, her gaze doesnt kill."

"If... If you say so Harry. I trust you."

The next few weeks until the end of term passed by quickly. Harry, Ron and Hermione recovered fully from the ordeal they had been through. Before leaving, Harry had made one final trip down to the chamber. 'remember the spells i taught you master. claim this place as yours.'

'i remember.' waving his wand and chanting arcane incantations, the ritual lasted through the night. when the sun rose, an exhausted Harry emerged from the chamber. The ritual had been a mixture of dark and light magic that had bound the chamber to him, established a lair here, boosting his already enormous magical core and it had allowed harry to throw off the magical bindings keeping his power levels limited. he had also discovered six places in his soul that were, for lack of a better word, incomplete. he could feel the resonance of six different souls that would bind to him. he had spent hours trying to determine who these souls were. finally he had broken his bindings before leaving for home.

the summer passed without incident, up to the point where he blew up aunt marge. the weeks at the cauldron had been heaven compared to the dursleys. Harry was glad to be away, but he missed his friends, especially Hermione. 'I dont know skitha, what if she doesn't feel the same way?'

'master, ive seen her watching you. she shows all the signs. claim her! make her yours! you are the male here. expand your plume and mesmerize her. she will submit to you.'

'i dont think it works that way for humans, hon. humans are different.' harry felt the mental impression of rolling eyes in his head. just then his the room brightened as a brown, bushy blur tackled him to the ground. "oof! i missed you too hermione."


	3. Chapter 3

chapter 3  
... complications  
harry sat on the hogwarts express, brooding, his mind occupied by a certain bushy haired bookworm. he looked over at her, as usual, arguing with ron. it seems her new cat had attempted to eat the decrepit rat ron carried with him at all times.  
"he's a cat! thats what cats do!"  
"just keep that bloody beast away from poor scabbers." ron whined.  
finally harry had had enough.  
"ron, its a miracle that thing is alive at all. its been in your family what, 12 years? awfully long life for an ordinary garden rat."  
ron turned away and huffed, sulking the rest of the train ride. or at least until the windows frosted over. harry felt depressed, as if he'd never be happy again. he heard a woman scream, saw a green flash, and passed out. $masssster... massster wake up.$  
'ugh... skitha, did you get the number of that hippogrif?' sybilant laughter played through his head. opening his eyes, harry saw a shabby looking man with scars on his face offering him chocolate.  
"here harry, have some chocolate. youll feel better."

the rest of the ride was uneventful and the wizard, who introduced himself as remus lupin, sat quietly, chatting with the students and keeping an eye on harry. harry, very aware of the professor watching him, sat watching hermione, stroking skitha absentmindedly, the snake seeming to hum contentedly, a low almost subaudible thrumming. before long, they had arrived at the castle, the new first years had been sorted and classes were in full swing. things were going well, harry was learning new spells, training wih professor lupin on the patronus spell, even snape was being more agreeable. slightly.

some months earlier

severus snape swept down the passage, robes billowing in his wake. he made impressive entrances and he knew it. in fact it was one of few things he was proud of. he made his way up the staircase to the headmaster's office, his mind made up. looking up, dumbledore smiled.  
"ah severus. so goodto see you. lemon drop?"  
"no, thank you headmaster. i came on business."  
"whats on your mind my boy?"  
"albus, i want to tender my resignation. i cant do this anymore. every day, i stand in front of him and i have to look into his eyes, lilys eyes, and see nothing but hatred. albus, its killing me inside. if i could just be pleasant to him, talk to him, tell him about his mother..."  
"severus, weve discussed this. the boy has to be alienated from his peers, he has to know what it is to be worthless. he must think that he can sacrifice himself with no one missing him. and you are to show him that. you promised. its for the greater good."  
"has it ever crossed your brilliant mind that i dont. want. to do this. anymore? fine, ill do as you say. but this boys lifeblood is on your hands."  
swirling his cloak, he left, marching down to his quarters for a much needed shot of firewhiskey. 'i dont care what that old man says.' thought the potions master. 'i cant live with the hatred in her eyes.'

present day

albus dumbledore sat in his office, plotting. the boy would soon be dead, and with any luck, so would his former apprentice. arranging blacks escape from azkaban had been no small feat. but he knew sirius would return to voldemort and he would lead albus to him. then, he, albus percival wulfric brian dumbledore, would be in control, to mold the wizarding world as he saw fit.

harry sat in a window above the great hall, gently stroking skitha as she lay coiled around his arm. the past few months had been eventful to say the least. the embarrasment of the halloween quidditch match, the humiliation of the boggart incident, the mystery of professor lupin's dissapearance, and finally, the constant following. coming to a decision, he decided to act. grabbing his cloak out of his robes, he became invisible and started to walk out of the great hall.

only to be stopped by the twins. "that wont work harry,"  
''nice try though-"  
"but we have-"  
"something better-"  
"this"  
"this"  
they proudly brought forth a scrap of parchment, and harry looked at them in disbelief. talking quickly, the twins explained how the map worked, and how to use it. harry was gobsmacked. thanking the redhaired twins, harry took the map and his cloak and went to hogsmeade.

harry watched as the white weasel teased his friends, before he had finally had enough. embarrassing crabbe and goyle, making malfoy cry, harry revealed himself to his friends as they all shared a good laugh.

later that night

harry sat, once again, brooding in the gryffindor common room. what he had heard at the three broomsticks was hard to take. "harry? are you ok?" he looked up from the flames into the soft brown eyes of hermione granger. "yeah, im ok. its just a lot to process. he sold them out. it would be like you or ron serving me up to voldemort on a silver platter. i cant believe it."  
she sat down next to him. "harry, i... i mean ron and i... we would never turn on you like that. i lo- we care about you very much. youre our friend." harrys face curled in one of his rare, slow smiles, and hermiones heart skipped a beat. 'just kiss him. tell him how you feel. whats the worst that could happen?' $master, if you do not kiss this girl now, you may miss an opportunity.$ 'skitha i dont know...' $JUST DO IT$ harry leaned in and captured her lips with his. she gasped in surprise and arousal. wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her closer and probed her lips with his tongue, asking for entrance. she melted against him, her lips open, inviting him in. their tongues danced, teasing and enticing. hermiones head span, her breath taken away, her heart skipping several beats. finally, after a sweet eternity, they parted, gasping. "wow. that was some kiss harry." "hermione, i love you. i always have. i was just afraid you didnt feel the same way. but after what you said, i know you will never betray me." "oh harry, of course i love you. even if i am a homely bookworm." "oh hush you, youre the most beautiful girl in hogwarts." the young couple would stay up late into the night, cuddling, kissing and talking.

in the shadows, above the stairs to the boys dorm, a certain red head sat fuming.


End file.
